Grey Eyes
by Sailor Ra
Summary: Ever wonder why Chibi Usagi never saw Hotaru in the future? Well, it's because she was a bit busy in the Soul Society with the Gotei 13. In the process, learns of betrayal, trusting friends outside the Senshi, and being awkwardly in love. ByakuyaHotaru
1. Obvious

Grey Eyes

**1. Obvious **

_I guess this should've been obvious, _Hotaru thought to herself as Setsuna told her the reason why she wasn't in the future with Chibi Usagi and the others is because she was in the Soul Society where a bunch of reapers protected humans from hollows, big scary things that looked like skeletons, and from other things that threatened humans in the afterlife.

Hotaru also figured it was obvious since she was the Senshi of Death and Rebirth, but the feeling of betrayal and hurt flooded her secretly as she realized that once again she didn't belong where she thought she did. She thought she belonged with her Hime and the senshi, but no, she belonged somewhere far, far away.

It should've also been obvious that only the most regal, one of the most important shinigami were going to appear to greet her as she was being sent off to the afterlife without much choice.

She was being sent off with Byakuya Kuchiki, the captain of squad six, and the head of the great, and oh so powerful Kuchiki clan. Minako had squealed about how handsome he was, but Hotaru admitted to herself that she didn't see him as handsome.

He stood a good head taller than her and he was probably wrapped with muscles with black hair that felt gracefully over his shoulders and piercing grey eyes that didn't reveal anything to her about his character. She thought she never met anyone as pale as herself, but he looked just as pale as she did. He dressed in all black except for the white captain's coat. She didn't see him as handsome.

"Hime," Byakuya stated in his clear, deep voice that frightened her as she stood outside her home-but no longer _was_ her home, was it?-with a bag over her shoulders. "We'll be leaving now."

She felt a slight pressure as the world in front of her split open to reveal a sliding rice door. He opened it for her as she saw a black butterfly fly out of it before he stepped into his world and she soon followed.

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><p>Sailor Ra: I already got ten drabbles done! So, just give me a review and I'll update tomorrow. I'm not sure if this counts as a story since it's told in little snip its. pairing: ByakuyaHotaru<p>

They'll probably be more pairings.


	2. The Scary, The Friendly, and unnerving

Grey Eyes

**2. The Scary, The Friendly, and the Unnerving**

She met all the captains in the same day she came to the Soul Society. No one thought that switching worlds would be rough for the petite Saturn Princess, but she didn't except them to either and she wasn't going to show weakness in front of them. Byakuya led her through some of the tiny perfect buildings without saying a word before taking her to a huge white building where the doors opened for them and revealed twelve captains that all looked slightly different and intimidating.

Captain Yamamoto welcomed her in a rough voice as she felt a warm heat coming off his spiritual pressure, which she found welcoming. She didn't think of him as an old man like someone else might because she could sense the strength in the way he talked and the way he gripped his cane. His eyes looked through her and she wasn't sure how she was going to prove herself to this man, who had protected this place for so long, nor was she sure how she was going to prove her strength to anyone else.

The second captain, Sui-Feng glared at her as her dark eyes narrowed onto her. Yup, she could practically hear the judgements in the second captain's head, probably along the lines on how she didn't look very strong, but Hotaru admitted that she held a beauty that she reminded her oddly of Setsuna-mama; slightly cold and very sharp to the touch.

"My, oh my, I didn't expect our hime to look so pretty."

Hotaru winced as her gaze turned to the captain of squad three with his silver hair and his ever present smile that made her shiver. His voice reminded her of snakes wrapping around her and she quickly moved her gaze to the next captain. She looked at Byakuya for a moment to see him narrow his eyes slightly.

Her fears relaxed as Captain Unohana for she smiled at the girl in a way that reminded her of Michiru-mama with her long hair in braids. Hotaru smiled back at her as she felt some of the fear ebb away slowly like sugar dissolving in hot coffee. Hmm, was she going to be able to have coffee here?

Sosuke Aizen looked incredibly normal compared to the other captains with his glasses and soft smile. "Please excuse Captain Ichimaru, Hime," he said as he smiled, "he has very poor manners."

Byakuya moved a little which made Hotaru look back at him, but nothing.

"It's fine, but please drop the Hime," Hotaru asked sweetly as she looked at Sosuke, "my name is Hotaru."

"You are our princess though," Komamura stated and she nearly jumped ten feet at his appearance with the helmet over his head. It rather frightened her, but she forced her smile up.

"But firefly is such a cute name!"Byakuya made a silent gesture of what Hotaru realized was probably annoyance. She looked at him before looking at the man who complimented her name."Shunsui Kyoraku, captain of squad eight," he stated as he tilted his hat at her. Hotaru giggled a little at the funny appearance of his pink outfit. "But my aren't you a beauty."

"She's seventeen." Byakuya remained the captain as Shunsui sighed dreamily.

"Oh to be so young," he stated as Hotaru smiled at him.

"Captain Kyoraku, don't speak so informally to our Hime," Kaname Tosen stated as he bowed his head toward Hotaru.

"Please, drop the Hime," she stated. She was only used to hearing such a term being used for Usagi. She turned to the tenth captain that looked about her age, which made her relax, but just as odd looking with his snow white hair and short stature. She decided to say anything about it seeing as how she used to hate it when Haruka-papa made fun of her height.

"Alright Hotaru," Ukitake said with a pleasant smile. Hotaru sighed and beamed at him. "You should come by and have tea with me when you have free time, Hotaru. And I can give you some chocolate too!" He laughed as Hotaru stared at the man who looked so serious, but was clearly relaxed compared to Byakuya.

She her a clank of a sword being drawn. "I hope we get to see what you can do soon," Kenpatchi stated as Hotaru felt herself give him a grim smile.

Her eyes fell on the last captain and Hotaru thought she might've squeaked when she saw the insane looking smile that she saw on youma when they tried to kill her. Mayuri Kurotsuchi was not going to be her friend anytime soon.

"Come," Byakuya stated, "we need to get you settled before dinner tonight."

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><p>I'm sorry these are short drabbles, but it's only thing I have time for these days. T_T I'm starting college tomorrow and I'll be able to update.<p> 


	3. Dark Chocolate

Grey Eyes

**3. Dark Chocolate **

"Well, well, well, looks like the little firefly was exhausted after dinner," Gin said as he saw the violet-eyed girl sleeping on a sofa in Byakuya's office with the said man working on a few papers. "How adorable, she really does look like a little princess from a fairytale, don't you think Kuchiki?"

Byakuya frowned, wishing that the snake like man would disappear already. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to the little Hime, or should I call her the little firefly? She seems to hate being called _hime_, don't you think? So subconscious," he tsked as he walked over to the girl's sleeping form. "A fragile little doll, don't you think? I wonder which prince here will sweep her off her feet?"

"Stop talking nonsense," Byakuya said as he tore his eyes away from the papers and glared at the captain.

"Oh you know," Gin stated, "I think it might be Toshiro since he's closer to her age, but then again, there's little Momo. Maybe I'll come in and save the little princess from all of her nightmares." Gin grinned even wider as Byakuya narrowed his eyes. "Or do you want that job, Byakuya?"

Byakuya glared. "Don't make me drag you out of here, _Gin_." He got up then and took a step away from his desk as Gin threw his captain's jacket on the sleeping princess.

"She's beautiful, isn't she? Not the kind of beauty that fairytales talk about, but a…dark beauty. The kind that demoness carry so well." Gin sighed as he leaned toward the girl. "Hmm, I wonder…what do little fireflies like her taste like?"

"Get away from her," Byakuya warned as his hand reached for his zanpakuto.

Gin smirked. "How about I tell you?" Gin leaned down and pressed a light kiss to her cheek when he jumped back to avoid Byakuya's flash step. "She's rather sweet. Like dark chocolate."

"Do _not_ touch her," Byakuya warned.

Gin smirked before turning back to leave the room. "Have fun, Byakuya. She is staying at your place until the construction for her little castle is done, correct?"

Byakuya narrowed his eyes as the door closed behind Gin. Hotaru began tossing and turning in her sleep as Byakuya sighed and reached over to wake the violet-eyed girl. She jerked up before rubbing her eyes.

"Did you sleep well?" Byakuya asked as he saw the girl blush and look at the coat on her.

"No, I had a nightmare," she stated as she eyed to coat. "Where did I…" She looked to check and see that Byakuya still had his jacket on before she looked at the back to see three marks on it. She gulped.

"A nightmare?" Byakuya asked even though he had a feeling of what it was.

She nodded. "Yeah," Byakuya twitched at the human slang term, "about snakes."

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><p>WAHAHA! I have internet in my room now! So I can post it up after a very nerve wrecking day! T_T College is big and scary! But fun, so far. I haven't started the work yet though.<p> 


	4. Spanish Lullaby

Grey Eyes

**4. Spanish Lullabies**

Byakuya admitted to himself that the household of his clan wasn't exactly a happy place, but over the years, little things changed like when Hisana first lived with him, then Rukia, the regular (and slightly annoying) visits from Yachiru, and now the newest guest, Hotaru. With three relatively happy people who didn't seem to follow the rules of nobility, the place began to lighten up with laughter coming mainly from Yachiru.

Tonight was no different.

The three girls sat in the kitchen as Hotaru and Rukia tried to explain to a very excited pink-haired soul reaper about the world of humans. Yachiru was bouncing up and down in her seat as she devoured the ice cream that Hotaru offered the young girl in hopes for her to calm down…when, which Byakuya already learned from experience, did the opposite effect.

"Yachiru, you need to go to bed," Hotaru told her as Rukia sighed, seeing as how the pink-haired girl nearly destroyed her favorite Chappy toy.

"Nope."

"We'll give you cotton candy," Rukia tried, "if you leave."

"Nope, rabbit girl!"

Rukia had a large vein pop out of her head at the nickname as Hotaru sighed. "How about if I get you a stuffed animal?"

"Nope, firefly-hime!"

Byakuya rolled his eyes. At least the pink-haired brat knew to respect her of all people since she didn't seem to respect anyone else ("Bya-chan!" was his nickname, unfortunately). Byakuya stopped by the entrance to the kitchen as he listened in. It gave him a moment to feel a little human and relaxed, listening to the three.

"Not even if I sing to you?"

Yachiru fell silent for a moment. "You can sing?"

"Yes, well, not like Michiru-mama, but it's not awful like Usagi's and Rei's singing voice." He heard the girl shutter as Byakuya felt his lips twitch slightly.

"Sing! Sing!"

Hotaru shuttered a little as Ruka begged her to get Yachiru to leave before he woke up. "Alright," Hotaru cleared her throat, "Pretty boy, pretty boy, beware of pretty boys who bring you blue roses to make you forever his. He'll whisper forevermore, forevermore. When he actually means, nevermore, nevermore."

"That song was too SAD!" Yachiru decided as the tiny girl burst into tears.

Byakuya stepped into the room as Rukia yelped and said, "Nii-sama!"

"Yachiru," he stated as a pink blur attached herself to his neck. He sighed before he said, "you two get to bed."

Rukia bowed while Hotaru mimicked her movements before he left the room. He sighed as the little girl climbed on his shoulders. "Why did Firefly sing such a sad song?" Byakuya tried to ignored the little girl. "Maybe she's sad. Is she lonely like you, Bya-chan?"

Byakuya didn't say anything, but he wondered the same thing himself.

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><p>Big campus, tired feet and going out for more freshmen orientation. I'll get the next one up tomorrow! Read and review!<p> 


	5. Hold My Hand

Grey Eyes

**5. Bad Mood **

Byakuya was not in a good mood.

In fact, he was in a very, very bad mood, which a person could only tell if he glared directly at them. It mostly had to do with Gin, who had decided to torment the captain of squad six, and his statements about Hotaru and Rukia. Most crossed the line of sexuality and brought unpleasant images to his head as Gin stopped talking for a split second and said, _How innocent do you think our Hime is?_ Of course, he then tried to go after Rukia's virtue. Most of his subordinates probably already told the rest of squads how foul of a mood he was in because people seemed to take an interest in this. Most acutely, the females seemed interested.

The only reason he was not heading straight home was the fact that he had to pick up the princess from a meeting with the second in demands. This was mostly Hotaru's idea since she wanted to get to know everyone with that odd, innocent smile on her face that made most of the muscles in his shoulders in his back relaxed when he saw it.

Byakuya found that the meeting had not gone so well. Or at least, that's what it looked like since Renji had a firm grip on Hotaru's arm as Rangiku yelled at him for something that he did and tried to grab Hotaru's other arm. She looked like she was caught in the middle of something.

"Taicho!" Renji yelled as he bowed, but didn't let go of Hotaru. Rangiku kept a full gripped on her other arm as she looked up at him, helpless.

"What's going on here?" Byakuya asked.

"I was trying to save the Hime from this demoness!" Renji glared at Rangiku who grinned at him. At least she wasn't interested him in him like some of the other women were, which was probably why he tolerated Rangiku better than a few others.

"Kuchiki, I'm sorry, but you know the women's-"

"Yes," Byakuya knew exactly what group she was in and he knew from a few very bad experiences.

Rangiku smiled. "I'm sorry Byakuya Kuchiki, but if you want this little firefly back," she yanked hard on Hotaru's arm and got her away from Renji, "but I'm going need a picture."

He didn't like the sound of that.

He turned around and stated clearly, "Hotaru."

It was a little bit of a command, but one that Hotaru tried to listen to as she tried to yank herself away from the blonde who gripped her one arm pretty hard. "Rangiku! I got to go! Go get a picture of Gin or something! I'm sure he'd be happy to help!"

Byakuya waited as Rangiku said, "Sorry, but she's not going anywhere-EP!" The three people jumped when Byakuya flashed stepped and now stood in front of Hotaru. She looked up at him for a moment before she felt a warm hand slip into her free hand as she suppressed a squeak before he gently yanked her away from Rangiku, who was too shock to keep her grip on the violet-eyed girl.

Hotaru stared at their interwoven fingers as she smiled at him. She didn't know why this small gesture made her so happy, but there was something comforting from the captain's grip and from the way he looked at her from the corner of his eye to make sure she was still there.

"Do you want to say something, Hime?"

Hotaru sighed a little. "Well, other than the fact that I've asked you to stop calling me hime for the past month?" He nodded. "No, I'm fine."

Hotaru tried not to think about how no other man held her hand like this.


End file.
